China stocks rise on debt swap scheme, credit expansion

SHANGHAI, March 13 (Reuters) - China's main stock indexes
rose to their highest level in two months on Friday, while
Shenzhen's Nasdaq-style ChiNext board closed at a
record high, as Beijing's local government debt swap scheme and
February's loan data boosted investor confidence.

China's finance ministry said late on Thursday that more
than half of the high-interest local government debt falling due
in 2015, totalling 1 trillion yuan ($159.80 billion), will be
covered under an impending debt swap, into official municipal or
provincial debt.

Analysts say the move would bolster banks' balance sheets.

Investors were also encouraged by unexpectedly strong credit
expansion in February and remarks from the central bank governor
about the stock market.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies
in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.7 percent, to 3,617.66, while
the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7 percent, to
3,372.91 points.

Smaller banks, many controlled by local governments, were
generally up, but most big lenders surrendered early gains on
profit taking.

Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank of China
, down 0.5 percent to 4.16 yuan; Industrial Bank
, up 3.3 percent to 16.49 yuan and Agricultural Bank
of China, unchanged at 3.32 yuan.

In Shenzhen, Ping An Bank, up 2.7 percent to
14.99 yuan; TCL Corp, up 1.0 percent to 5.11 yuan
and BOE Technology, up 0.3 percent to 3.14 yuan were
among the most actively traded.

Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 32.7 billion
shares, while Shenzhen volume was 17.9 billion shares.
(Reporting by the Samuel Shen and Kazunori Takada; Editing by
Kim Coghill)